


Some Kind of Truth

by GoodluckPancake



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Hurt, Revenge, hunter!Jess, mentions of f/f
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:23:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2578127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodluckPancake/pseuds/GoodluckPancake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica Moore, in spite of being a pretty, smart girl, did not stand out an awful lot. She did not speak too much or too little in class, and her answers were neither particularly stupid nor mind blowingly insightful. She was, to be blunt, rather average. It was hard to figure out how exactly this was possible whilst being both pretty and smart, yet it was the truth. Or a truth at least.<br/>The truth was slightly more complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Kind of Truth

Jessica Moore, in spite of being a pretty, smart girl, did not stand out an awful lot. She did not speak too much or too little in class, and her answers were neither particularly stupid nor mind blowingly insightful. She was, to be blunt, rather average. It was hard to figure out how exactly this was possible whilst being both pretty and smart, yet it was the truth. Or a truth at least.

The truth was slightly more complicated.

When her boyfriend, one Sam Winchester, left at 2 in the morning on Saturday, with a soft kiss, a promise that he would be back in time for his interview on Monday, and not nearly enough of an explanation on where he was actually going, Jess had gotten back in bed, eyes glued to the ceiling and not slept. Her mind hasn’t stopped spinning since he drove off with his strange, B and E inclined brother in that big, black, classically-American car. It was a quiet sort of spinning, one that she knew she would never really share with him, just like she hadn’t with all the other cases of spinning, because asking other people about their past leaves a gap for them to wonder about yours.

By the time the sun had come up, she’d managed to shove that to the back of her head. And it stayed there, until there was a loud rattling pound against her door at 7pm that night.

The face on the other side of the door was exactly the same as she would see looking into =-a mirror. If said mirror happened to be a portal into another world, one where she was crying her eyes out and had her arm in a sling, the tip end of a white plaster cast peeking between her fingers.

“Adeline?” She squawked as her doppelganger of a cousin threw the uninjured arm around her, bawling into her neck.

“D-d-dana bro-oke up with me-e-e-hee!” Adeline wailed. Jess shushed her soothingly as she ushered the other girl upstairs into the apartment. The moment she closed the door behind her, Adeline pulled away, sobbing as she stumbled over to the couch, flopping down face first. Jess sighed, running a hand through her curls as she sat next to her, rubbing her back comfortingly.

“I’m guessing it has something to do with that cast on your arm?”

Adeline made a guilty whimpering noise.

“What happened?” Jess sighed. Adeline pulled herself back up to sitting, leaning against Jess but not looking at her face

“Vampires.”

“Vampires plural?”

“…yeah. Vampires plural.”

“How many vampires plural?”

“Like… 10.”

Jess closed her eyes in exasperation.

“Please tell me you at least had back up.”

Silence.

“Goddammit Adeline.” Her voice was low and angry, and there was a long pause before Adeline continued.

“After the hunt I had like 20 missed calls, and when I got home she took one look at me, shoved me in her car and drove me to the hospital.” Jess started to notice other things, a small line of stitches just under her hairline, a wince whenever she leaned too hard on the right, a split lip.

“She didn’t say a thing until we got back, and… and then she told me she couldn’t do this anymore, that she couldn’t handle caring about me when I obviously didn’t care about myself.” It wasn’t a new argument; Adeline had an awful habit of being reckless and Dana only had so much tolerance for her girlfriend’s irresponsibility. Jess could see where she was coming from; Adeline was pretty much the only family member she had that didn’t hate her guts. She didn’t want to lose her.

They’d grown up like sisters. Their fathers were twins, and when they were really young almost no-one could tell them apart. Nowadays it might be a little bit of an exaggeration to say they look the same. Adeline was 2 years older, 2 inches shorter and built with both a little more breast and a lot more muscle. Jess’s hair was a little blonder and her eyes a little greyer. Still, the differences were subtle and they’d been mistaken for the same person with more than a passing glance before. Even a longer look still usually cast them as sisters rather than cousins.

Jess sighed and got up to make food. She found it easier to lose track of time without someone to ground her, to go for long periods of time in her own head without food or sleep, and now that she thought about it, her stomach felt like it was trying to start a rebellion. Adeline could probably do with some food too. She rummaged through the cupboards, finding dried spaghetti and some cheap tinned sauce stuff that Sam despised. There’s silence for a long moment as Jess boiled water and sliced vegetables.

“You should have called me.” She said eventually. There was a sigh from through the wall and light footsteps before Adeline’s head stuck through the doorway.

“I did one better. I’m here aren’t I?” Jess rolled her eyes at the deflection.

“Not about Dana. About the hunt. I would’ve gone with you. Why didn’t you say anything?” Adeline took a deep breath before answering

“Because you’re so busy living the ‘college life’ with your friends and your classes and your parties and your… Sam. I know you can’t come hunting every day or even every week or else you think he’ll find out and bolt.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Jess whispered. “If you thought the world was safe and simple and then someone you loved claimed otherwise? Or worse, that they were right?”

“The boy sleeps with a knife under his pillow. He knows the world isn’t safe.”

“I know, but a knife is better than a sawn off shotgun and a bag of salt.”

Adeline rested her head against the wall and Jess cooked on.

“I know my wittle Jessy wessy is all grwown up. You don’t need me barging into your life here.” Adeline said finally. Jess huffed a sigh and started fishing around in the draws for a strainer.

“Just because I don’t want to hunt full time, doesn’t mean that I want to stop all together. And it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you anymore. Or that I’m gonna let you do stupid shit on your own. We’re a team.” She finally looked at Adeline, a soft smile gracing her lips. The older girl pulled her into a hug.

“I don’t want you to turn out like Steph.” Jess breathed against the other girls shoulder, and both of their arms tightened in response.  Adeline didn’t reply, but Jess knew she heard. Eventually they pulled away.

“I am impressed that you managed to take down 10 vamps on your own and only break your arm though.” Jess stated admiringly, draining the water from the spaghetti into the sink.

“I am pretty amazing.” Adeline preened, leaning against the counter.

“Hey, pass me that white jar from the shelf just there?” She reached up, tossing it down to Jess.

“What is it?”

“Garlic.” Jess smirked, adding a spoonful to the saucepan and Adeline threw her head back and laughed.

“God, you’re a dumbass.”

* * *

 

They plated up and sat at the table. Adeline buried her spaghetti under enough cheese to feed Canada for 2 months, and started shovelling it into her mouth. It was near halfway gone before she looks up with a frown and asks,

“Hey, where is lover boy anyway?” Jess sighed, poking at her pasta.

“You tell me.” Adeline’s eyes grew wide.

“Woah, he didn’t run off with that skank in your accounting class did he?”

“No, he didn’t. And she isn’t a-”

“Was it that barrister from Starbuck who makes eyes at him and always gives him an extra pump then?” Her eyebrows wiggled almost comically.

“No-”

“Was it Brady?”

“No, it w- Brady? Really?”

“They are kind of gay.” Jess shook her head.

“His brother showed up last night, said something about his dad being in trouble and they just left, at like 2 in the morning.”

“Ominous.”

“Pretty much.”

“I thought he didn’t talk to his family anymore.”

“Yeah, well apparently his brother needs his help finding their father.”

“What, he’s missing? They call the cops?” Jess shrugged.

“No, from what Dean said, it seems to happen a lot.”

“Like Alzheimer’s?”

“More like, he forgets about other people. There was something about deer hunting and a cabin… Sam’ll be back by Monday.”

Adeline huffed. “Sounds like a douchebag.”

“Yeah, well, from what little Sam’s actually told me, that seems about right.”

Food finished, Adeline wiped her sauce spattered face on the sleeve of her coat.

“Looks like you’ll be marrying into a great family, Jessie girl.”

“Hmph. I’ve already got you. How many more deadbeats am I gonna have to put up with?”

“Ouch. That hurt.”

They sat in silence, Jess eating her dinner like a normal, civilised person, while Adeline licked her plate like the animal she was.

“What?” She asked when she caught Jess giving her a look. “Hunting don’t exactly come with a salary. You gotta eat what you got, when you can. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Jess replied, “I just thought moving in with Dana might have domesticated you a little.”

The pain that resurfaced on Adeline’s face was still fresh, and Jess almost kicked herself. “You kiddin’ me? No woman can turn all this into some house cat. Though, out of everyone, Dana came closest.” She put her plate back on the table with a clack.

“You can have the couch until you sort things ou-”

“Things ain’t sortin’ this time Jessie bear. But thanks.”

“Well, stay here until you figure out where you’re going next.” Without Dana, Jess knew that Adeline would roam, picking up case’s where they appeared.

“Ok.”

“But you’re helping me with the dishes.”

* * *

 

The next day brought no classes and a broken hearted cousin to comfort. They spent the morning watching shitty reruns (“What the hell is this shit?” “It’s called Doctor Sexy.” “It’s completely unrealistic. She ain’t a lesbian. Look at those fake nails. Yowtch.”) and eating chocolate ice cream. Adeline might have spilled some on the bed sheets, but that was okay. It was on Sam’s side.

Jess made cookies in the afternoon, just like Aunty Janie used to do for them after long hunts. They were chocolate chip, and she made sure to hide some for Sam because Adeline was sucking them back like a vacuum cleaner. She called Dana while Adeline was in the shower.

“I’m just so sick of her throwing herself into danger. I can’t handle it anymore, I’m sorry.”

“I get it. It’s okay.”

“I am sorry. Tell her I’m sorry. I don’t want her to be even more reckless.” Jess knew there was nothing she could do to stop that, so she lied and promised that it wouldn’t happen. Then she hung up.

“Who was that?” Adeline asked. She was wearing a pair of Jess’s old pyjama pants and one of Sam’s shirts.

“Sam.” Jess lied. Adeline gave her a look, but nodded, allowing rather than accepting the excuse. They got back into the bed and watched Disney movies until they ran out of ice cream at 11.

“We neeeeed mooooore.”

“Are you serious? How much ice cream have you eaten today?”

“Not enough.”

Jess sighed and held her hand out for the keys. Her and Sam didn’t own a car; the campus was walking distance anyway.

Adeline flung them at her, then returned her full enraptured attention to Aladdin.

The white station wagon was a piece of crap; it gurgled, it rumbled and it coughed like a pissy old man. The passenger seat was full of fast food wrappers, the back seat full of clothes and a sleeping bag that’d probably seen more than Poppa and the trunk full of meticulously cleaned weapons, stocked under both the fake bottom and in the tool box on top of it. Priorities.

The only place open was a big supermarket about 10 minutes away. Jess gazed into the freezers only to realise that she had no idea what flavour she’s supposed to get. She poured over them before buying 3 random ones with the $20 bill she found in the glove box (god knew how long Adeline would be staying- or how much ice cream she intended to eat before she leaves.) The line wasn’t too long and Jess was out the door in no time.

Just as she unlocked the clunker she saw a big, black, very familiar car driving past. Sam was back. It made her grin, and if she sped a bit on the way home, nobody had to know.

Jess heard it as soon as she opened the front door; the faint sound of a shower running, the crackle and hiss of fire, and above all, Sam Winchester screaming her name in blind panic. She sprinted inside, followed the noise and the roiling black smoke to the bedroom. Before she stepped inside though, through the blackness, she swears she sees a pair of yellow eyes. Jess shook her head and pushes through. Sam stood there, reaching for the ceiling in shock. He still screamed her name, frozen in terror. She followed his eyes. Rubbed her glasses. It was still there.

Oh God.

Adeline.

She was on the ceiling. On fire. And Sam thought it was Jess, but it was Adeline and oh god, Jess’s worst nightmare had just come true.

“ADELINE!” She screamed, and lunged towards the bed. The room had been full of smoke, but she managed to pull the knife from under their bed and boost herself, almost reaching her cousin and then-

Strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulled her back.

“NO! ADELINE, NO!” She struggled against Sam, but then Dean was there too and they dragged her out as the apartment went up in flames. She screamed and she shouted, hysterical, until the smoke in her lungs became too much and she passed out.

* * *

The pain in her chest woke Jess up. She had a split second of relief, of ‘thank god, it was just a horrible, horrible nightmare’ and then her eyes adjusted to the light, revealing a blurry motel room, the same as any number of shitty motel rooms around America with their same-yet-different ugly patterns. She felt her face, looking for her obviously missing glasses. A pat around her found them placed tenderly on the small table on her left, sitting beside a lamp that was bolted into the wood. As she slipped them onto her face it was obvious they had been cleaned; the glass was bright and spotless, unlike her arms, and probably hair and face.

The hunter part of her brain kicked in and she tensed, eyes searching her surroundings. She was alone, lying on one of two single beds. There was a scratchy tartan blanket tucked up to her abdomen. The sun glimpsed through thin curtains, and there were three closed doors, one to the left and two to the right. An out-dated TV hung on the wall, muted, and the sound of muffled voices next door. Jess was 89% sure that one was Sam, and judging by the raspy, masculine tone of the other the second was his brother. The reminder of where she had last seen them struck her and her throat tightened.

Adeline.

There was no way that Addy’s death had been anything but paranormal. The vampires. It had to be… she must have missed one. She pushed the blanket back, bare toes touching reedy carpet. Her chest clenched painfully as she pulled herself upright, but she endured.

Sam and Dean could explain Addy’s death away with haze and smoke. And her… she’d never been here. Adeline had a box of fake ID and the photos looked close enough.

Jessica Moore was gone.

She found her sneakers by the far right door, then patted her pockets finding an alarming absence of keys.

“Shit.” She breathed. “shit, shit, shit.”

She spun around… they had to be here. The idea of them falling out in that burning building, of losing every single part of Adeline at once was… no. No. A rush of breath escaped her as she spotted them glimmering under the lit lamp of the other nightstand. She snatched them up, cradled them in her hands as she tiptoed to the door she found her shoes beside. She was pretty sure that door number two led to tweedledum and tweedledee, so if door number one turned out to be a bathroom or something then there was always good old number three.

The door was locked but they’d left the key in and Jess opened it with a quick twist. She eased the door open just enough to slip out and then shut it with just as much care.

Then she bolted.

The sun blazed in the late autumn sky and Jess would have felt slighted at the cheery weather except that Addy had despised sun and it felt fitting. Hunting in the heat was a pain, sweat soaking into clothes and making it easier to be scented, cooking in thick jackets to prevent scratches or bites. Rain was supposed to be sad but the fact that the day was so bright and sunny made Jess bitterer than any clouds could.

Adeline’s mud covered station wagon sat parked 3 spaces down from Dean’s beast of a car. Jess slipped into driver’s seat and slid the key into the slot.

Time for revenge. Jess just had to find out where.

First stop, Dana’s.

She twisted the keys and the engine coughed. And died.

Twisted again. Coughed and coughed. Then spluttered out.

“NO!” Jess shrieked, slapping the dashboard.

One more time.

The car revved and revved and finally kicked into life. Jess pulled it into reverse aaand…

Black smoke shot out of the hood and a crack resounded through the air. The station wagon fell silent. Jess turned the key franticly. Nothing happened. She slammed her head against the wheel and the horn blasted.

Sam and Dean came sprinting out, Sam calling her name in panic. She didn’t even realise she had been sobbing into the peeling faux-leather of the steering wheel until Sam scooped her out and cradled her in his arms. Jess clung to the collar of his shirt.

“We thought it was gunshots.” Sam muttered into her hair. “I saw you had left and I thought you’d been hurt. Are you alright?”

“She’s gone.” Jess wailed. “And now I don’t even have her stupid car.”

“It’s okay,” Sam said soothingly. “Shh… you’ll get through this.”

“Addy was all the family I had…” Jess whispered into damp flannel.

“Sammy! We needa talk-” Sam cut his brother off.

“I know Dean. Just give her a minute.”

And Jess knew they hadn’t even got to the hard part yet. She had already lost her best friend.

Now she was going to lose Sam too.


End file.
